Ohio Approves 2 More Bids to Drill Under State Land, Advances 5 More
The Ohio Oil and Gas Land Management Commission (OGLMC) approved two bids to drill for oil and gas under (not on) state-owned lands yesterday. Antero Resources was the sole bidder to drill under a Dept. of Transportation (DOT) property in Noble County. Southwestern Energy won its bid to drill under DOT land in Monroe County along the Ohio River. The OGLMC also advanced five other nominations to drill under state-owned properties to the bidding process. One nomination advancing is a request to drill under the 84-acre Keen Wildlife Area in Harrison County (see Drillers Nominate 2 More OH Wildlife Areas to Frack Under, Not On). However, the OGLMC disapproved five drilling nominations, including one to drill under the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Belmont County.
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American Environmental Partners (AEP) and its owner, Brad Domitrovitsch, are due in court today in Belmont County, OH, to address a motion by Ohio’s Attorney General, David Yost, to hold the company and Domitrovitsch in contempt for not complying with an order to clean up the Austin Master Services (AMS) facility owned by AEP. AMS is a radiological waste management solutions company in Martins Ferry ( in Belmont County) close to the Ohio River. Media accounts report that AMS has stored at least 10,000 tons of fracking waste (drill cuttings with low radioactivity) at the facility. The facility is rated and permitted to hold 600 tons. In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Belmont County Common Pleas Court to block AMS from receiving more waste and order it to clean up and comply with its rating. The court granted both requests with a deadline of April 17 to comply. The deadline came and went without compliance.
Two weeks ago, MDN told you about an odd situation in Ohio. DeepRock Disposal, an injection well company owned by a former member of the Ohio Oil & Gas Commission and current State Senator, Brian Chavez, leaked injected wastewater beyond its permitted boundary of a half mile into a non-functioning conventional well “miles away” (in Noble County) where the water came to the surface (see 
Two weeks ago, during the week of April 29 – May 5, there were 16 new permits issued to drill in the Marcellus/Utica (and 26 the week before that). Last week, for May 6 – 12, there were just ten new permits issued. The trend has been going down for the past few weeks. Ascent Resources scored the most new permits last week, with six scattered between two well pads in Guernsey and Jefferson counties in Ohio. Coterra Energy received two new permits in Susquehanna County, PA. Antero Resources also received two permits, in Wetzel County, WV.
Forced pooling is the practice of forcing landowners (rights owners) who don’t want to allow drilling under (not on top of) their land from blocking such drilling for their neighbors. Underground horizontal drilling used in shale wells often crosses borders into neighboring land. There’s no way around it. There is no surface disturbance for those who don’t want to lease. In Ohio, the practice of forced pooling is called “unitization.” At least 65% of landowners in a proposed unit must be leased in order to force the others in the unit to accept drilling under their land.
Austin Master Services (AMS) is a radiological waste management solutions company operating in Martins Ferry (Belmont County), OH, close to the Ohio River. Media accounts report that AMS has stored at least 10,000 tons of fracking waste (drill cuttings with low radioactivity) at the facility. The facility is rated and permitted to hold 600 tons. In March, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked the Belmont County Common Pleas Court to block AMS from receiving more waste and order it to clean up and comply with its rating. The court granted both requests with a deadline of April 17 to comply (see 
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another two rigs, down to 603, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it — a fairly narrow band. That is, until three weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. Then, two weeks ago, it was down to 605. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 603. Will we see it go lower than 600?
EOG Resources, one of the largest oil and gas drillers in the U.S. (with international operations in Trinidad and China), owns a huge 430,000+ acres of leases in the Ohio Utica. EOG calls its position the “Ohio Utica combo play” and now considers it one of the company’s “premium plays.” EOG concentrates on oil drilling in the Utica. As part of the company’s first quarter 2024 update, Keith Trasko, Senior VP for Exploration and Production at EOG, said Utica wells “compete with the best plays in America, very comparable to the Permian on a production per foot basis.” Wow! High praise indeed. The Utica is the new Permian…we like the sound of that!
Two more tracts of Ohio public lands designated as “wildlife areas” have been nominated by shale companies to be drilled and fracked under (not on), which has the anti-fossil fuel group Save Ohio Parks up in arms. The tagline for Save Ohio Parks is “No fracking on public lands.” The thing is, there isn’t any fracking on public lands in Ohio. It’s UNDER, not ON. Well pads and equipment would be erected on PRIVATE land adjacent to the public land. There is no disturbance of any kind on top of Ohio’s public lands. The new parcels nominated include 84 acres in the Keen Wildlife Area in Washington Township (Harrison County). A second parcel of 30 acres has also been nominated for the Egypt Valley Wildlife Area in Flushing Township (Belmont County).
Last Thursday, MDN brought you the news that Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost asked a Belmont County judge to find Austin Master Services (AMS) and Brad D. Domitrovitsch, who is in control of the company (both CEO and CFO), in contempt for “failing to meet the court’s deadline to clean up the illegal levels of fracking waste stored at its recycling facility in Martins Ferry” (see 
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has the long knives out for Ohio State Senator Brian Chavez (Republican) and Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine (also a Republican). The Plain Dealer is accusing DeWine’s Ohio Department of Natural Resources (ODNR) of corruption in not charging an injection well company owned by Chavez called DeepRock Disposal $1.3 million for cleaning up wastewater that migrated from a DeepRock injection well to a nearby conventional production well in Noble County. Instead, says the Plain Dealer, the ODNR sent the bill to the conventional well operator!
Last week, the Baker Hughes U.S. rig count lost another eight rigs, down to 605, the lowest the count has been since January of 2022. Since last October, the national count had gone as low as 616 and as high as 629, and that was it. No higher and no lower. That is, until two weeks when it crashed through the floor and went lower, down to 613. And now, it has gone even lower, down to 605. The Marcellus/Utica remained even at 40 rigs after losing one rig two weeks ago. Pennsylvania operates 21 rigs; Ohio operates 11 active rigs; and West Virginia operates 8 rigs.
Gulfport Energy, the third-largest driller in the Ohio Utica Shale (by the number of wells drilled), reported its first quarter 2024 numbers earlier this week. The company drills Utica *and* Marcellus wells in Ohio. It also has an active drilling program in the Oklahoma SCOOP shale play. Gulfport’s net daily production for 1Q24 averaged 1,053.7 MMcfe/d, down just a shade from 1Q23’s average of 1,057.4 MMcfe/d. Production in 1Q consisted of 831.3 MMcfe/d in the Utica/Marcellus (79%) and 222.4 MMcfe/d in the SCOOP (21%). The production mix was comprised of approximately 92% natural gas, 6% natural gas liquids (NGLs), and 2% oil and condensate.